Light the Darkness ............ today from 4pm ...... Holocaust Memorial Day

 Each year people from across the UK take part in a national moment for Holocaust Memorial Day.

At 4pm on 27 January people across the nation will light candles and put them safely in their windows to:

remember those who were murdered for who they were 

stand against prejudice and hatred today

Picture; The 8th night of Hanukkah, Kiel,  William Miconnet who wrote, “Rabbi Akiva Boruch Posner lit this menorah on the 8th night of Hanukkah in full view of the Nazi headquarters in Kiel, Germany, 12 December 1931”The National Library of Israel*

The Holocaust Memorial Trust, Holocaust Memorial Trust, https://hmd.org.uk/hmd-theme-2026/

*The National Library of Israel, https://www.nli.org.il/en

The Woolwich we have lost

My sister and her husband had warned me just how much the centre of Woolwich had changed but when you don’t go there very often it is easy to forget that places can undergo a massive transformation.

So I asked them to go out armed with an old book of Woolwich plus my pictures from the blog and record just what has happened.

This they did and here is the first of a new Woolwich series, starting with Wellington Street which I featured a few months ago with a picture postcard from 1916.*

I say 1916 but the image may date back to 1907 which shouldn’t surprise us.  Once the picture had been taken the cards could have a long shelf life, so while the one in the collection has a postmark date of 1916, another source puts the moment the photographer captured the scene a full nine years earlier.**

If it was 1907 then the Town Hall which dominates the skyline was opened the year before by Will Crook the MP for Woolwich.  The Town Hall included a public hall, central library, public baths a police and municipal offices.

And as Colin’s picture shows little apart from the Town Hall on Wellington Street has survived.  The Old Woolwich Hippodrome seen next to the Town Hall had a short life of just 23 years.

It was an impressive brick building dressed in stone and ran to three stories.   An iron canopy bearing the name of the theatre covered the steps leading up to the central entrance.

Another canopy continued along the sidewall with a sign across its face reading TWICE NIGHTLY AT 6.40 & 9.10. More signage appeared above the canopy reading WMF GRANT & CO. TWICE NIGHTLY also appears at the top of the side wall.

And in our picture the signs advertise Will Evans who according to some was one of our finest comedians and Pantomime stars and was the author of many sketches and songs.

Sadly there is little on him and nothing about his appearance at the Woolwich Hippodrome.

And as for the Woolwich Hippodrome, its life as a variety hall was just 23 years but as a cinema it fared even worse, closing in 1939 when it was demolished to make way for a new cinema which with the outbreak of war was not built until 1955.

Now I am not some crusty old lover of old buildings just because they are old but I have to say those that flanked and stood opposite the Town Hall are on a human scale which cannot be said of the tall brick and concrete slabs that have pretty much turned the street into a canyon.

But perhaps I am being too harsh, it may be that Colin’s other pictures show a better and cleaner Woolwich than the one I remember.  We shall see.

And in the meantime our Elizabeth tells me that "since we took the pictures of Woolwich, the building next to the Town Hall has been demolished. Not sure what is there now. I remember going there when it was known as Flamingos, mind you that was some time ago."

*At the Woolwich Hippodrome sometime between 1907 and 1916, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/at-woolwich-hippodrome-sometime-between.html

**Evans, Brian, Woolwich in old photographs, 1994

Picture, Wellington Street, 1907-1916, courtesy of Mark Flynn, http://www.markfynn.com/london-postcards.htm and Wellington Street from the collection of Colin Fitzpatrick

Hampton House ......... and a mystery down on Edge Lane

This is about as close as we are going to get to Hampton House.

The garden wall of Hampton House, 1959

It stood just a little back from Edge Lane and gave its name to the road that now runs past its northern side.

Time has not been kind to the house or its memory and even the caption has helped wipe it off the map because there is no reference to Hampton House in what is otherwise a very detailed description.
“Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Edge Lane, Victorian Post Box, North east side: 10, Corner of Hampton Road, showing Victorian Post Box built into wall of semi-detached houses built in what was garden of Barway House”.

Now Barway House still stands, and is nu 28 Edge Lane, but the plot now inhabited by those semi-detached houses, behind the stone wall with its Victorian Post Box was home to Hampton House.

Like it's neighbour Hampton House was built around 1866 and was situated in its own grounds with a long straight drive which ran off from Edge Lane, past the house to what may have been a large stables.

Hampton House, 1894

I can track its residents through from the 1860s into the 20th century, and then the trail goes cold.  It is not listed on the street directories for 1903 or 1911 and is absent from the census records.

But there is perhaps a clue in the listing for 1909 which records that a Mr George Meredith was living there and described him as “caretaker”.

And that suggests that the owners were not there and that no one was renting the property which was also the fate of Barway House at about the same time.

But unlike Barway House which was reunited with residents later in the century Hampton House may not have been so lucky, because by 1921 it had been demolished and maps show the site remained empty until sometime in the mid 1950s when our semi-detached houses were built.

All of which begs the question of what might have been wrong with property.

It may have been poorly built or it might just have been too large.  By 1939 Barway House had been divided into flats and the adverts in Manchester Guardian show that the same fate had befallen some of other big houses in Chorlton.

In the end the answer will in part lie in a careful trawl of the street directories for the early part of the 20th century which if we are lucky will reveal the names of residents up to 1921.

Well we shall see.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Edge Lane, Victorian Post Box, North east side: 10, Corner of Hampton Road, showing Victorian Post Box built into wall of semi-detached houses built in what was garden of Barway House, A E Landers, m17775, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass extract from the OS map of 1894 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

A quiet day in Hallaton with a war memorial

This is the war memorial in the village of Hallaton.

The memorial, 2024

We came across it on a hot sunny day as we made our way through Leicestershire to the Cotswolds.

It was one of half a dozen we encountered, and the sheer number in what was a short journey reinforced that simple fact of how many young men died during the Great War.

Such was the suffering and profound sense of loss along with the wish to remember their sacrifice that war memorials were erected by local subscription across the country.

They come in different designs and sizes, but all reinforce the magnitude of the deaths.

More so when you compare the number killed with the size of the communities who built them.  

The 45 Sentinels, 2024

I have yet to find out the population of Hallaton in 1918, but I guess it will be a tad smaller than the 594 who were here in 2011, and that is telling given that the war memorial records the names of 41 men who from the Great War and 4 from the Second World War.

And as if to underline that loss we saw just four people on a day when nothing else stirred, save the occasional passing car and the work of a stone mason repairing the church wall.

But the community has not forgotten the men, because close by was an information board to “The 45 Sentinels” which records the site of 45 trees planted around the village for each of the fallen. “Each tree has an engraved plaque with the man’s name, regiment and date of death”. And those details are replicated again on the information board.

Location; Hallaton

Pictures; the war memorials, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

At St Chad's in Saddleworth with the remarkable Mr Banks sometime in 1880

Now I am back with Mr Banks that remarkable photographer. 

Selling a photograph circa 1880

He was one of those self made Victorians who rose from humble beginnings to become a celebrated photographer capping his career with that seal of official approval which comes from the title “By Royal Appointment.”

He has caught my interest ever since my friend Sally began posting his photographs of Manchester in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

From 1873 and into the next century he recorded the great events of the city, along with the everyday life on the streets and portraits of the good and worthy of Manchester.

But here is one of those pictures he took of Saddleworth where he had his first studio.

The studio dated from 1867 and this picture of St Chad’s from around 1880.

St Chad's today

Now I don’t often do a then and now but I couldn’t resist in this case.

So here is his picture which appeared on photographs he sold  and the church as it is now courtesy of Saddleworth Churches.*

And because the pictures deserve a bit more here is the story of the church.

"There has been a place of Christian worship on the Parish Church site since 1215 AD, when the first Saddleworth Church was established as a chapel of ease as part of the Rochdale Parish, but in time became the possession of Whalley Abbey. 

St Chad's in the 1880s

Under the suppression of the churches by Henry VIII, the Abbey had to submit Quick Chapel€™, as it was then called, to the jurisdiction of Rochdale and more recently in 1866, patronage was transferred to the Bishop of Manchester.

The current grade 2* listed re-build, which stands in it’s own conservation area, is late Georgian. 

The interior, which includes the original gallery, has a pleasant warmth to it emanating a surprising light and colour. 

The stained glass tells the tale of the wildness of the weather in this area and the church does possess a fine Capronier depiction of the Visit of the Magi.

How to find us: Saddleworth St Chad Church, Church Road, Uppermill, Oldham OL3 6LW"

So there you have it a little bit more on Mr Banks and the story of the church he snapped.

 Pictures; St Chad’s circa 1880s, Robert Banks, courtesy of Saddleworth Museum, http://www.saddleworthmuseum.co.uk/ and St Chad’s today courtesy of Saddleworth Churches, http://saddleworthteam-cofe.org.uk/contact/

*Saddleworth Churches, http://saddleworthteam-cofe.org.uk/contact/

Ida Bradshaw Chorlton historian ...... and friend

There will be many in our community who were saddened at the news that Ida Bradshaw has died.

Ida in 2019

She always styled herself the "unofficial archivist of St Clements Church" and she was my friend. 

Her passion for Chorlton's history was infectious and l welcomed her regular phone calls about some "new find" that she had uncovered from her trawl of the church archives.

More than that l often benefited from one of her discoveries which in turn found themselves into a blog story.

And Ida was many other things.

I still have her folders of art and craft work recording not only her own output but pictures of exhibitions and group activities.

All of which kept her busy and sometimes it was difficult to pin her down to meet up as she mixed church business, trips to Central Ref, and visits to parishioners along with Saturday mornings at some craft event.

Catherine Brownhill remembers, Catherine Brownhill "A truly wonderful lady Andrew. I was introduced to Ida through Chorlton Civic Society. 

Her enthusiasm for her interests was infectious. Her love of perfume bottles and the presentation talk she gave about them will stay with me for a long time".

Ida in 2002

And I know many others will also have fond memories of Ida.

So I couldn't finish without expanding on her interests in embroidery and her work for Chorlton Arts Festival.

In 2002 The South Manchester Reporter commentated on her contribution to that year's events with, "As part of the Chorlton Arts Festival, St Clements Church on Edge Lane threw open its doors for an exhibition and demonstration of local arts and crafts. 

Visitors through out the week were able to come and enjoy watching things being made as well as admiring the creations on display.

Among the people demonstrating their skills was embroidery expert Ida Bradshaw."

And along with our conversations on all things Chorlton history this picture of Ida the embroidery expert is a nice way to remember her.

Her funeral will be at St Clements Church on Wednesday February 4th at 11 am.

Picture; Ida Bradshaw, 2019, from the collection of Peter Topping, and Ida in 2002, courtesy of South Manchester Reporter, May 30th, 2002

Heaps of history ….. and the Market Harborough challenge

 I must confess I had never come across that 17th century timber building in Market Harborough which once served as the towns grammar school and covered in market.

2024

According to one source “the former Grammar School of 1614  is a small scale timber framed building with an open ground floor designed to "keepe the market people drye in tyme of fowle weather" and having above it the former school room. This building represents the close of the timber framed tradition of buildings in the area”.*

It is in the heart of a conservation area which includes the former sheep market. 

"The middle section of the original market space now comprises the lower High Street, Church Street, Church Square and Adam & Eve Street. This is the traditional retail hub of the town. It is an area of small-scale buildings of varying ages. ….. 

2024

The centre of this area is Church Square dominated by three buildings, the first two on island sites rising from the pavement. First is the great Church of St. Dionysius with its soaring spire of white limestone. The Church rises directly from the pavement without a churchyard, as it was until 1901 a chapel of the Parish Church at Great Bowden 2 miles away. Secondly, alongside the church is the former Grammar School of 1614,  [and] the third building overlooking the Church and Square is the Council offices, Library and Museum. It is a 4-storeyed former corset factory of 1889”.

We washed up there on a hot day on the way to the small village of Kibworth Harcourt. And as you do we stopped to explore and find somewhere to eat.

The restaurant turned out a good choice, more so because the tables spilled out across the square under the shade of a tree.

2024

And from there we watched as the townspeople went about their business or like us enjoyed a drink, and a meal.

After which we sauntered across the square and while the others  “did the shops” I did the conservation area, but despite all my best attempts I couldn’t get a decent picture of the  grammar school and was left with falling back on a 1905 picture postcard from the company of Tuck and Sons.

1905

To be fair when our commercial photographer did his picture the space in front of the hall would have been less busy and I doubt he would have to have dodged the traffic and snapped away before the traffic lights turned colour.

So that's the challenge .... better the 1905 image.

Location Market Harborough

Pictures; The grammar school, 2024 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and in 1905 from Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdbpostcards.org/ 

*Conservation Areas in Harborough district - Market Harborough Conservation Area, Market Harborough District Council, https://www.harborough.gov.uk/directory_record/1276/market_harborough_conservation_area